So You Decided Not to Update to iOS 8. Does It Matter?

Not everyone is sold yet on the newest version of Apple's mobile operating system.

It looks like a lot of Apple users are holding off on downloading iOS 8, the newest version of its mobile operating system that was rolled out last month and comes standard on the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

According to Apple's App Store support page, 47 percent of the devices that have visited the App Store recently are running iOS 8. That sounds like a decent number—that is, until you notice that it's barely up from the 46 percent Apple reported two weeks ago. (When Apple released iOS 6 and 7, the numbers were in the 60s or 70s at this point, Wired says.) About 47 percent of the users who visit the store are still rocking iOS 7.

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What Gives?

There are a few reasons that iOS 8 is slow out of the gate, one of which is its sheer size: Upgrading to iOS 8 requires you to have 5 GB of free space on your device. While 5 free gigs might be easy to obtain for someone with a 64 GB phone, many people with older iPhones (the people who are the iOS 8 holdouts) are running 16 GB devices loaded with two years' worth of pictures and tunes. They're unlikely to have that kind of space free.

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Apple has instructions on its site for what to do when you don't have enough space (hint: it involves your computer and iTunes), but the process is more cumbersome and annoying than simply tapping on your phone and then agreeing to the unwieldy terms of service to get the new version of iOS.

On top of that, iOS 8 has also gotten dinged in the press and on social media for causing battery issues and having a few highly-publicized bugs.

And who could forget that iOS 8.0.1 update that managed to disable TouchID and cell service? Apple fixed the issue and has since released iOS 8.0.2, but that highly publicized failure no doubt has led more people to hold off on downloading iOS 8 at all.

Do I Have to Upgrade?

The short answer is no. If you still have an iPhone 4, then you can't run iOS 8. If you still have an iPhone 4S, then you probably don't want to. Those with iPhone 5 and 5S can continue to run the old OS if they like, despite the repeated upgrade nags from your device. (From the numbers we mentioned earlier, it would seem that about 6 percent of people who visit the Apple Store are running an iOS even older than 7, so they've been ignoring those notices for a while.)

There are three basic consequences for upgrade abstinence. First, you'll simply be missing out on some of the cool features Apple built into iOS 8. Second, you won't receive some the security patches and fixes built into the iOS updates. And lastly, there's the simple matter of obsolescence. For now, just about everything available for you phone will be backwards compatible at least to iOS 7. But there will come a day when new apps or accessories with only with iOS 8 or newer.

When that can't-miss feature does come around, you can always, you know, upgrade.